


acculturation

by hydrobates



Series: case studies on the entities' effect on daemons [3]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Daemon Separation, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:13:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24330373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hydrobates/pseuds/hydrobates
Summary: For the nine months Daisy was in the Coffin, she couldn't reach her daemon.
Relationships: Basira Hussain & Alice "Daisy" Tonner, Jonathan Sims & Alice "Daisy" Tonner, mostly gen but you can read the daisira as you like
Series: case studies on the entities' effect on daemons [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1745374
Kudos: 18





	acculturation

At first, when Daisy came back to her senses, she realized where she was- swallowed up by the weight of existence. 

It was the call of her daemon that helped her. Constant shouting of her name in that familiar, gruff voice, the sight of Alerian's tawny fur against the deep browns of the Buried, like sunlight, shook her out of her Hunt stupor. 

“Alice.  _ Alice.  _ Come back to me, come on, don’t- don’t listen to the blood.” 

“Listen to the quiet,” she rasps back. 

They were separated, there was no way to move closer to each other, pinned by the stone walls that encased them. The pressure of the stone around them didn't feel painful, but it still held them fast to their positions. 

Daisy tests it, trying to wiggle her arm free so she could try to reach out, touch at least his muzzle, remind herself of her last tie to her humanity- 

But the walls are quick to act, squeezing closer and making it hard for her to breathe, let alone move. The two of them were stuck as they are, just a bit apart, only able to reach for each other. Daisy was scared for a moment that the walls would come closer as she breathed in, making her unable to breathe. But the walls stopped just short.

It almost breaks them in the nine months they’re stuck here. Every time they try to move closer, it feels like the walls squeeze tighter, and maybe Daisy’s imagining it, but it feels like the distance gets greater every time she tries to reach, but there was nothing tipping her off to that fact, that pull in her belly whenever Alerian was just too far out of reach. 

For a while, they tried to break the monotony of the Buried squeezing and releasing them with conversations; whatever thoughts would pop out they would voice, up until Daisy’s throat felt like sandpaper. It hurt to be so quiet, to have nothing to talk about. Daisy tried to wrack her mind for things to say, things to talk about, but what conversations could she have with Ri that she hasn’t already had? 

She could hear the moaning, when the outside rained. The sounds of thousands of undying people moaning at their inability to take a sip of the water that so freely flowed outside. Daisy would join in, if she thought it would do anything. But, resigned to her fate as she is, she just waits for the walls to come make her feel crushed again.

There was nothing Daisy wouldn’t do now, she would shatter her bones to dust if it could mean some comfort, if she could feel how Ri’s fur felt on her skin, the warmth of his body, his panting breaths during morning runs. She missed the simpler things, being able to move in a way that you wanted, being able to go out and get coffee, even seeing another person, despite how very lone-wolf Daisy was. 

Days didn’t pass. Not like it did outside. There was no day-night cycle that Daisy could use to count the days, and even if she could she would have lost track soon with nothing but her addled mind to keep count. 

It was when her fingernails were down nearly to the quick, from reaching, from scratching, from trying to escape that she heard it. The muffled sound of someone. And her heart beats faster in her chest with hope. Jon. They both beckoned him with their voices, leading him straight to them. 

And they were real, here in the flesh and not just some figment of Daisy’s lonely mind. He looked beat up, but his daemon was wrapped around his neck in a tight grip, nothing short of death could separate the two of them. 

If they were to be trapped in the Buried for eternity, she would want to do it with Ri within arm’s reach, stuck to her side. For the length of time she was here, she’s been tantalus in the underworld, only able to yearn for things he would never reach. 

For a small moment, the earth around them opens up just enough for Kalahani to quickly move to be with Alerian. The walls quickly close in, but he’s able to do it, being small enough to move freely between the three of them without getting caught in the Buried’s grasp.  _ Comfort _ , Daisy recognized; what little comfort that Jon could give to Daisy in this moment, and it made tears well up in her eyes. 

That wouldn’t change their predicament, though. They were both stuck here still, no concrete way out. But at last, they were not alone, and Daisy would take whatever she could hold on to now. 

When Jon asked her how she felt, here at this moment, the compulsion was easy, loosening her tongue like a good drink. 

Here, inside the Buried, she couldn’t hear the call of the Hunt- the want to find a target and track it down. The craving for the rushing feeling when you go in for the kill. It was far away, and a part of her is glad that that connection is muted here. She felt like herself for once and she would hold on to that, keep a tight grip on it and never let go. 

Alerian felt less like a rabid dog, jumping at every opportunity to chase something down just for the thrill of it. Not that he could do much of that if he wanted to here, but he felt grounded. There had to be some humor in that. 

And for a while, they were still there. There wasn’t an escape available, not with Jon not having a proper anchor, but at least they weren’t alone in all of it. There was a small comfort in having Kal with Ri, touching him when she couldn’t.

There were talks of what was happening outside. She was glad to hear Elias was put away, if that did anything. If she ever got out of here, she would love to give the punch to the face he deserved. If she ever got out of here.

Somehow, somehow Jon was able to get them out. He was able to move incrementally, the earth loosening its grip on both of them. Pinkies interlinked, he made a path out of the coffin, out of the Buried taking unsteady steps to freedom. The walls just barely allowed them to squeeze through, It didn’t let Daisy look back to see where Alerian and Kalahani were, but she could tell that they followed closely, though at what distance, she couldn't tell. 

They pushed the lid of the coffin open, and found themselves free of the buried, though scraped up, bruised, and covered in dirt and grime. Daisy wobbles, not used to standing on her own and collapsed, and Ri was there, and she held tight onto him. If she cried into his fur, no one else could tell.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> next chapter will be on the Hunt :) 
> 
> daisy: Alerian, Ri, he/they, [ethiopian wolf ](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/wildkratts/images/6/6b/Ethiopian_Wolf_RL.PNG/revision/latest?cb=20200108013040)  
> jon: Kalahani, Han or Kal, he/him, european pine marten


End file.
